Rye Rye and M.I.A. Sunshine/ U.S. Girls Red Ford Radio

This is my favorite song right now and it's not underground but I'm glad because I want everyone to hear it like it's the beatles or the rolling stones so it is still a part of jigsaw fanzine

May I suggest listening to Buzz Chant by U.S. Girls right after this song? or how about this one instead:

Actually if this was a mix tape I'd put Red Ford Radio on as the first track, followed by Sunshine xo DJTV

why I haven't reviewed yr record yet

so if you are wondering why I haven't reviewed yr record yet...two years ago I quit the band I was playing drums in...deciding, once again, that playing drums is not an end-in-itself for me...then spider and the webs went on a semi-official hiatus and I decided not to start any new groups until I prioritized some shit...one thing I wanted to do is stop playing in bars...and stop going to bars...which led to not hanging out with people who spend a lot of time hanging out in bars...so I did that...and I'm still doing that I guess...but it sorta meant I stopped playing music for awhile...and then I stopped going to shows...I haven't played a show in almost a year and a half, which might be some kind of personal record for me...when I'm not in a group or when I'm in a group that is not playing out I really don't enjoy going to shows...I get bored and I start to hate all the groups...by nature I'm critical and I enjoy and value criticism...but this is different...so I've been doing other things for awhile...I still play guitar on friday nights, but I'm not in a group, I'm not playing shows...I'm gonna start working on it more over the summer and I think that will mean I'll be more receptive to what other people are doing musically...really the only music I feel passionate about right now is a box of reggae records we got in columbus, ohio over memorial day weekend and the dum dum girls. ok, I listen to dexy's midnight runners a lot at the gym...like every day...and there are a few bands I'm curious about and a few other records I've been listening to here and there...hopefully i'll have something to say about this all later...and thanks to everyone who has sent me stuff to review...I'm gonna start listening to it next week for reals, to go along with my summer regimen of playing guitar every day for three months no matter what.

in the meantime here are a few songs that are sounding pretty good right now:

Late Night Listening: The Girls At Dawn

photo borrowed from myspace

tonight's late night listening pick: the girls at dawn...i started out on a quest for the modern day punk rock shangri-la's, inspired by the dum dum girls and listening to 6T's girl groups today... girls at dawn are three girls from brooklyn. here's a recent live video where it sounds a little washed out and feels amateurish in the shagg's sense but you can get an idea of what it would be like to see this group:

here's another cool video:

they appear to have a 7" on hozac and a 12" on captured tracks.
The Girls At Dawn are:
Erin (guitar & vocals), Ana (bass guitar & vocals), Sarah (percussion & vocals), Mysterion (keys)

Remember: Walking (Anarchy) in the (Streets) Sand

Seeing Girl Groups: The Story of a Sound encouraged me to go to Goodwill and Positively 4th Street and hunt for used vinyl as a teenager. I really thought The Shangri-la's were tough, street-wise girls. I thought of them as punk. I was a big Sex Pistols fan at this time as well, but was troubled by their sexism, particularly on this record, Some Product, but I was also pretty obsessed with listening to this record over and over again. It was probably about 5 years before I would hear The Slits, so that gave me a lot of time to imagine what an all-female punk band would actually sound like and how they would present themselves. There really wasn't an example that I knew of. I also didn't hear or even hear of The X-Ray Spex until I was 18 or 19, which seems odd now, given that I was totally music obsessed and immersed in punk. I had heard X, of course, and I was a big Avengers fan, but both of those groups just had female lead-singers and that seemed a little limiting. All the Dangerhouse stuff was out of print, so even if you had heard of The Bags or The Controllers or The Eyes, there was really no way to actually get those records. So this idea of what it would be like if The Shangri-la's were playing their own instruments and writing their own songs really stuck with me.

I remember hearing that The Shangri-la's had played with The Sonics locally and this somehow cemented their reputation in my mind for being really tough chicks. I took this image with me when I would walk around downtown at night. I didn't have go-go boots or long hair and I rarely wore make up, but I tried to imagine what it would feel like to be a punk rock Shangri-la...a girl gang...towns full of girls in gangs...in groups...girl groups...teenage punk rock girl groups...ruling every town. Why hasn't this happened yet?